


water flows and so do we

by asofthaven



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, boys being sentimental
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-28
Updated: 2014-10-28
Packaged: 2018-02-23 00:32:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2527358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asofthaven/pseuds/asofthaven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oikawa asks a question and Iwaizumi considers everything that brought them to this point.</p><p>Or, the boys talk about their relationship and are hopelessly in love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	water flows and so do we

Iwaizumi doesn’t know why he bothers with study sessions with Oikawa. It doesn’t take long for Oikawa to abandon study materials in favor of wrapping his arms around Iwaizumi’s waist. Oikawa pulls, stubbornly, until Iwaizumi’s sitting with his back resting on Oikawa's chest, Oikawa's long legs on either side of his crossed legs, but Iwaizumi is determined to pass calculus and so he only complains about it a little. He doesn’t mind the closeness, after all, and Oikawa’s been oddly silent since he got here anyway.

It’s beginning to be a little disconcerting, actually, and just when Iwaizumi thinks that he might as well ask Oikawa what’s wrong, the brunette speaks.

"Iwa-chan, when did we start dating?"

Iwaizumi can’t see what expression Oikawa is making and he can’t really guess from his voice. He's sure, though, that if he leans back to investigate, Oikawa will have on one of his annoyingly innocent faces and deny that the question is anything more than a question.

"I don't know," Iwaizumi says finally, resuming the homework laid out in front of him and keeping his ears finely tuned for Oikawa's response, "It doesn't matter does it?"

"Mmm," Oikawa says, his voice a lilt of consideration that Iwaizumi doesn't believe for a moment. "I guess not."

Oikawa's a great liar, but Iwaizumi's known him too long to be fooled. He leans back, tilting his head against Oikawa's chest with a frown. Oikawa hides his face in Iwaizumi’s hair, and Iwaizumi thinks, _much more than just a question, then._

He forces himself to think back, but he honestly has no idea when he and Oikawa started dating. In fact, the longer he thought about it, the more apparent it became that he had no idea when he’d started referring to Oikawa as his boyfriend—not aloud, really, just in his mind and in grudging affirmation when said boyfriend was being particularly difficult. 

Iwaizumi furrowed his brows. When did they take that leap or step or whatever it was towards _this_? Best friends, yes, always, but also people who share kisses in stairwells and trade murmurs of comfort in bedrooms and hold hands on the way back home and stare up at ceilings with heads on chests and fingers in hair and _seriously, when did we start dating?_

_Did I ever ask him out? Did he ask me?_

The answer comes to him immediately—the reason he can't remember is because there's no memory to remember. They had just happened, the way a river just happens to flow into the ocean and, suddenly, the river water finds itself being called ocean water instead. It's bound to happen because rivers connect to oceans and that's how the water flows, but it's not like the water notices that progression.

That must be what's bugging Oikawa—the lack of a memory to attach to their relationship. It's not something Iwaizumi has ever particularly cared about or noticed; Oikawa’s always been the one to take these things into consideration. Iwaizumi almost wants to laugh, but he settles for a bemused smile. It's been years, hasn't it, since Oikawa first kissed him, and now he wants to memorialize the moment?

It's endearingly sentimental, coming from Oikawa.

"The end of middle school?" Iwaizumi ventures, because in his mind that makes the most sense, even though there have been points between then and now when they _weren't_. But they had always come back together, river water meeting in the ocean, and so Iwaizumi glosses over those breaks without missing a beat.

The end of middle school means after their last tournament, when Oikawa won the best setter award. Iwaizumi had come over to his house, intent on making sure Oikawa didn't fall into another one of his slumps because even though Oikawa was happy, Iwaizumi had the nagging suspicion that he wasn’t _pleased_ —not with himself, and Iwaizumi had never liked the way Oikawa sometimes talked about himself like he was worthless.

"You should put it somewhere you'll always see it," Iwaizumi said, when he caught Oikawa staring at the plaque with a soft smile.

"You think?" Oikawa had asked brightly. Iwaizumi pointed to a space above Oikawa's desk, underneath a shelf that held an odd assortment of trophies and alien figurines, as a response.

Iwaizumi grabbed a nail and a hammer from Oikawa's dad, relented when Oikawa insisted he could do it himself only to immediately grab them back when it became clear Oikawa was a hazard to himself and, possibly, the structure of the house. Iwaizumi hung the award on the neat whiteness of the wall and stood back to admire his work, grinning at Oikawa.

"That's proof," he said, nudging Oikawa's shoulder with his own, "that you're better than you think you are."

Oikawa looked at him with a wide-eyed surprise that caught Iwaizumi off-guard. Then Oikawa smiled, one of the few truly pleased smiles that Iwaizumi had seen, his eyes crinkling at the edges and his nose scrunching slightly.

Even then, Iwaizumi knew he was pretty much hopeless against that face.

"Thank you, Iwa-chan," Oikawa said, the grin taking on a goofy edge, "I'll remember that."

But Oikawa wasn't looking at the award, and the next thing Iwaizumi knew, there were lips pressed closed-mouth against his and the scent of Oikawa in his nose—stale sweat and minty bubblegum—and he felt the tremble in Oikawa’s hands as they settled feather-light on Iwaizumi's shoulder. Then it was gone and Iwaizumi blinked confusedly as Oikawa's gaze locked onto the award, his manner aloof as if he hadn't just managed to turn Iwaizumi's world inside-out and backwards with just a gesture.

"It does look good there," Oikawa had been saying, "but don't you think it's a little crooked, Iwa-chan?"

"It looks fine," Iwaizumi snapped after a moment, when he figured out how to talk while keeping his heart firmly in his chest. The last thing he cared about was the fucking award. He was just having trouble finding the breath to ask _why did you just kiss me?_

He was having trouble being in the same room as Oikawa at the moment, actually; he was suddenly hyperaware of Oikawa’s breathing and how close they were and how Oikawa’s lips were warm and Iwaizumi hadn’t even had the chance to kiss back and _this is absolute bullshit why couldn’t he just say he liked me like a normal person what the hell Oikawa?_

They stood in silence for several moments until Iwaizumi, annoyed, bit out, “Oikawa, were you just making fun—”

"Was that okay?" Oikawa interrupted, his gaze still determinedly on the plaque.

“…huh?” Iwaizumi asked, taken aback.

“You’re not a very good listener, Iwa-chan,” Oikawa said lightly, but something about his voice made Iwaizumi turn to face him, brows furrowed. Oikawa looked composed, but there was something tense and afraid in the line of his shoulders.

So Iwaizumi took about five seconds to think _of course that was okay I would have decked you already if it wasn’t_ before he pressed himself into Oikawa's side, found the setter's hand with his own and muttered, “I like you, too."

His eyes flitted over to Oikawa momentarily, catching the uncertain smile at the edge of the other boy's lip before it was covered by a wide, taunting grin that Iwaizumi recognized in an instant.

The sense of foreboding was familiar too.

“I never said I liked you,” Oikawa sing-songed. Iwaizumi had to resist the urge to punch him.

“I’m going to go home, asshole,” he deadpanned instead, and Oikawa’s grip on his hand tightened, the smile turning placating in an instant.

“I’m kidding! I like you, Iwa-chan,” he said quickly, leaning heavily against Iwaizumi.

Iwaizumi turned his head sharply in the other direction, partly because he wanted to make Oikawa suffer a little more, but mostly because he didn’t want the brunette to see the redness that was rapidly making its way across his face.

“I really like Iwa-chan,” Oikawa continued. Iwaizumi felt his lips tug into a smile. “Even though you did put my award up wrong.”

Iwaizumi shoved his shoulder hard against Oikawa's, eliciting an offended huff of breath from the other boy. "I did not,” he said. The plaque was crooked, though, favoring the left side. He tilted his head to the right to compensate. "You're just looking at it wrong."

Oikawa mimicked him, his tongue poking out of his mouth. After a moment of careful consideration, he said, “I think it would look better if I’d done it.”

Just like that, everything was back to normal. Iwaizumi let go of Oikawa’s hand to shove him away, Oikawa complained about Iwaizumi’s rough housing, Iwaizumi insulted Oikawa and at some point Oikawa’s mother had called up to tell them that dinner was ready.

The only thing that had changed was that before Iwaizumi left for home, he kissed Oikawa, hesitant and gentle because he wasn't quite convinced that the kiss earlier hadn't been a fluke.

It hadn't been.

"After the tournament?" Oikawa asks, his chest vibrating against Iwaizumi's back.

"When else could I be talking about?" Iwaizumi answers, pinching the exposed skin of Oikawa's leg. The taller boy yelped in indignation. "Yes, after the tournament."

This time, Oikawa's hum of consideration is genuine. His arms grip a little tighter around Iwaizumi's waist as the seconds pass.

"That would make it nearly three years, then," Oikawa says and Iwaizumi can hear the smile in his voice.

"Congrats to us," Iwaizumi says, only somewhat sarcastic. It’s kind of…surprising, to hear it aloud. Has it really been that long? They’ve known each other for longer than that, but to think that they've been this for so long makes warmth blossom in Iwaizumi’s chest.

He pushes the homework away from him so he can twist in Oikawa's lap until they're facing each other. He scans Oikawa's face, thinks that he must have kissed and flicked and touched every millimeter of that face, and still feels like there's more to it than he could ever uncover.

"I love you," he says simply. It's not the first time he's said it, but there's something different about this time, something that makes the words come out through a tight chest. He’s known he loved Oikawa longer than he’s willing to admit, but it’s weird to really think about it—about how they’ve come together, about how Oikawa is so fully ingrained in his life that he can’t really picture a life in the singular anymore.

It’s kind of overwhelming and gross, actually, but Iwaizumi figures he’ll deal with it if it’s Oikawa.

Oikawa’s wide-eyed surprise melts almost immediately into warmth and hesitance; it’s like he’s not sure he can believe what he's hearing. Iwaizumi flicks him on the forehead to get rid of that look. He knows that he can’t actually get rid of Oikawa’s insecurities with force, but it’s a conditioned response at this point, and Oikawa seems to understand what he’s trying to do. His expression clears in an instant, the doubt gone, and Oikawa brings him close, arms tight around his waist again.

"I love you too," Oikawa says happily, nuzzling Iwaizumi's neck. Iwaizumi’s heard this before, too; Oikawa says it jokingly and seriously and through texts and phone calls and before school and during practice, and Iwaizumi would have thought that after hearing it so often, his heart would stop doing that weird, graceful leap in his chest.

Sometimes it does. Most times, it doesn’t.

Iwaizumi was the first one to confess _love_ , the words falling thoughtlessly out of his mouth, diamonds he'd meant to keep masqueraded as rhinestones. They'd been walking home after practice, sore and tired and annoyed because Iwaizumi had once again dragged Oikawa out of the gym well after practice had officially finished.

They were first years and everyone knew Oikawa was impressive, but the third-years had a strong hold on the regular positions. Oikawa was taking it far too personally that he hadn’t been a regular in an official game yet.

"You're not going to get a spot if you overwork yourself," Iwaizumi said. He was leading Oikawa by the hand, convinced that Oikawa would just head back to the gym if he wasn’t physically tethered to Iwaizumi.

"We're already halfway through the season—" Oikawa started, frustrated, but Iwaizumi turned on him, his expression sharp and angry.

"We still have more seasons after this," he snarled, letting go of Oikawa's hand in favor of fisting it in the other's shirt, "We'll keep having seasons as long as you don't go and do something stupid like injure yourself!"

They had argued until Iwaizumi had managed to extract all of the self-loathing Oikawa was feeling, until he had, in his determination to get Oikawa to snap out of it, inadvertently confessed. "I don't know how I fell in love with such a moron," are the exact words that came out of Iwaizumi's mouth. He would have been able to play it off, probably, if it hadn't been for the fact that the moment he realized what he said, his face had turned bright red and he had tried, too quickly, to cover it up.

Oikawa stared at him, his cheeks faintly pink and his expression incredulous.

"It takes a moron to fall in love with one," Oikawa had said, trying and failing to retain his teasing tone. It was too honest, too vulnerable, and Iwaizumi found that he couldn't look away.

"We're both morons, then," Iwaizumi said after a choked moment, his tone halfway between a statement and a question. Their hands tangled tightly under the cover of dim streetlights and quick-falling darkness.

Even in the dark, Iwaizumi could see the smile spread across Oikawa’s face.

“Why are you being so mushy today, Iwa-chan?” Oikawa asks, his face resting in the crook of Iwaizumi’s neck.

Iwaizumi flushes. “I’m not,” he says defensively. Oikawa’s laugh ghosts across his neck, making him shiver lightly. Oikawa presses a handful of kisses on Iwaizumi's neck, up to his jaw, until Iwaizumi gets impatient and brings their mouths together, teeth nipping lightly at Oikawa's lower lip.

They stay like that a while, kissing lazy and content, Oikawa's hands at Iwaizumi’s back and Iwaizumi's arms hooked around Oikawa's neck. The brunette hums contentedly into Iwaizumi's mouth, his hands moving suddenly to the shorter boy's shoulders, and then they're lying on the floor, a textbook digging into Iwaizumi's side and a grinning Oikawa above him.

"Some warning would be nice," Iwaizumi says irritably, reaching underneath him to shove the textbook as far away from him as possible.

"I'm going to kiss you," Oikawa lilts and Iwaizumi rolls his eyes even as he leans up to meet Oikawa halfway. Oikawa guides his head back to the floor without breaking contact, the kiss deepening as their hands roam familiar patterns on well-known skin. When they separate, Oikawa settles on his side, facing Iwaizumi, his breathing slightly labored.

"We don't have an anniversary," Oikawa says after a moment, and this time he doesn't bother trying to hide his expression. It's bothering him, that they don't have dates to memorialize these moments in their lives. Iwaizumi sighs softly, thinking.

"What's today?" he asks finally. Oikawa stretches to grab his phone and Iwaizumi can't resist nipping the expanse of neck it offers him.

" _Hajime_ ," he says with a laugh before the screen of his phone lights up. Iwaizumi can’t help but grin at the use of his first name. "It's the fifteenth."

"That's it, then."

"What?"

"Our anniversary," Iwaizumi says, rapping his knuckles on Oikawa’s forehead, "Did you forget what we were talking about already?"

"You're the one with old man memory," Oikawa says immediately, dodging the half-hearted swipe Iwaizumi makes in his direction. "Why today?"

"Why not?" Iwaizumi retorts with a shrug of one shoulder, "It's as good a day as any."

"That's so indifferent, Iwa-chan," Oikawa whines, draping himself across the other boy.

"As far as I'm concerned," Iwaizumi starts, nudging at Oikawa when he presses the rest of his weight against Iwaizumi so that he’s lying on top of him, his head pillowed on Iwaizumi's chest. "you’ve been my boyfriend for years. That's not gonna change just cause we only now decided on a date to say it happened."

Oikawa laughs, the sound sweet and unexpected. "That was romantic," he teases, but he's smiling the way Iwaizumi has been waiting for, the way he's seen more and more since their first kiss.

Oikawa is pleased and Iwaizumi thinks it's the best thing in the world to see.

"The fifteenth, then," Oikawa concedes, lifting himself up so he's hovering over Iwaizumi again. His head tilts to the side, eyes shining. "Will you be able to remember that from now on, Iwa-chan?"

Iwaizumi meant to shove Oikawa's face away, he really did, but his hands dragged the other boy down into a kiss instead, his thumb running along Oikawa's jaw and his other hand resting lightly on Oikawa's back.

"Happy anniversary, moron," he says when they pull away. Oikawa's grin is breathtaking.

"This means you owe me three years’ worth of anniversary gifts, you know."

**Author's Note:**

> ~~I've fallen into Iwaoi and I can't get up~~
> 
>  
> 
> This was really fun to write. I think I'll have to write more about these two haha
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it, and as always, any critiques or comments are greatly appreciated :)


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